"He is 4 weeks old today. That means, we've kept him alive for one month and neither of us have run away from home. AND the dog is still alive. I think that means we've been somewhat successful."
Allie turns 1 month old at 11:49am today. (Happy 1 month old day, Allie Grace!) We've survived...and we feel accomplished because of it. There have been many moments of weakness and strength, where the worst moments of weakness are becoming more distant in our memories. Oddly enough, we have an AMAZINGLY EASY baby, but it's still been quite a bit of culture shock...I can't help but believe that God helped us out in that department, because of the other complications that came up and the emotional roller coaster I had just hopped on.
The first three weeks were the hardest for me. I had a horrible infection in my incision and breastfeeding just wasn't working for us. The only time Allie Grace would cry was when she was feeding...which, as my mother in law put it..."is bass ackwards." Babies should STOP crying when being fed. Since then,I made one more appointment with the lactation consultant and now we've been on the up and up with feedings. I would actually say it's going very well! My advice to mothers who want to give up...just KEEP GOING. It will get better. IT WILL GET BETTER! Also, use the tools available to you to help. There are reasons things like Boppies, Brest Friends, and yes, nipple shields were invented. Sure, it's not as natural as you imagined in your perfect breastfeeding world, but it's not the rest of your life...it's probably the next 6 to 9 months. Lactation consultants are also the best things since sliced bread. They are so supportive and give you advice that actually works. You can probably find a pediatrician's office that keeps one or several on staff. If you're in the Richmond area, Pediatric Associates of Richmond is a top notch Peds office.
SO, we're also in the clear of the baby blues...for now. I felt like such a freak the first few weeks. I needed to reintroduce myself to society. I would have a meltdown at the sign of any conflict or anything that would happen unexpectedly. This caused a lot of embarrasment, especially when it would happen in public. I know now (now that the meltdowns aren't as frequent...though they are still happening occassionaly), that they are just uncontrollable and I'm not crazy. It's JUST the hormones that come with childbirth.
This past week, we were literally "out and about." Every day we planned something to do. We could have done most of the errands in one day...but I spread them out over a few days so we'd have an excuse to leave the house. Driving again has really helped. Though very grateful for the help and support, I didn't enjoy relying on others to take us places.
Other milestones for AGL and her sleep deprived parents:
1. We went to the movies with the little nugget. Yep, we found out that The King's Speech had an 11:10am showing at our favorite theater...no doubt the showing with the least amount of people. SO, I fed her until she was "drunk" and off we went...she slept the whole time and we really enjoyed the movie. We had some pretty weird looks from people and I heard one girl say..."Oh my God, they brought their baby here." She'll know one day that it is doable and whatever it takes to avoid cabin fever with a new baby is worth trying. Also, apparently our parents' generation did this all the time.
2. Allie Grace is sleeping 4-5 hours at a time at night. WOW. Pretty impressive. We've made a few adjustments to our night time routine so that she starts to recognize night time behavior. Dr. Oz says it's never too early to start a sleep routine, but keep your expectations low. They are learning how to live and habits and routines take time to establish.
3. Allie and I have had "a feeding" in public. YIKES. No shame and no modesty here. We covered up...but it is definitely something that takes some practice. It takes a bit of coreography and thought process beforehand as well. You have to ask yourself questions like "Can I reach everything I might need in the next 30 minutes from this position?" Usually the answer is "No," by the way.
That's all for now, folks. We'll be updating with pics more and more and less with words, but we'll give the occassional first time parent story here and there too!
xo,
Kate (& Jake)
No comments:
Post a Comment